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The 15th annual Rickwood Classic was played today, with the visiting Tennessee Smokies eking out an 8-7 win over the Birmingham Barons. You can read all about it HERE, and while you’re there be sure to click on my first-ever photo gallery (of which I am very proud).

My “Southern Swing” must soon continue, but before moving on to Huntsville in my rented Mercedes-Benz with Texas plates (this is true), I’d like to leave you with some odds, ends, scraps and sods from my Birmingham experience.

Let’s start with this photo, taken from the roof of Rickwood Field with my trusty spy-cam. Press box sources had informed me that Josh Vitters of the Smokies had left his pants in his hotel room, and this certainly did appear to be the case:

Take it from one who knows, Josh: nothing good can ever come from leaving your pants in a hotel room.

But my favorite photo from my Rickwood excursion is this one, for reasons that I will explain once you are done perusing it:

Fans of juxtaposition should take note of Barons starter Matt Long, quietly stewing in his own juices in the bowels of the dugout while the rest of his teammates loiter carelessly atop roof while waiting for the game to start. But even more hilarious is ol’ #10 there, showing off a beautiful hour-glass figure rarely seen amongst baseball professionals.

I’d also like to say thanks to the various individuals who have provided me with Rickwood information over the past several days. Noted sports scribe Allen Berra was kind enough to share several articles he has written about Rickwood, which informed my writing while whetting my appetite for his upcoming book on the iconic stadium. I’ll certainly be covering the release of this tome on MiLB.com, but get a head start by pre-ordering it on Amazon HERE.

Meanwhile, a reader by the name of Sam Hamm, a former Rickwood bat boy, sent me some inside info on the stadium:

In the ’80s, there was a big Mello Yello (?) sign above the right field fence with a basketball hoop attached. A player hitting a ball in the hoop would win some prize. I’m pretty sure that Mike Laga did it once in ’82 or ’83. I remember Mark Smith hitting one that summer during BP, and everyone giving him a hard time because it did not count…Go out beyond the left field fence and pace the distance from the fence to the exterior cement wall. The scoreboard was in left-center then, about 370′, and about 25′ high. Beyond that it was maybe 50′ or more to the outfield wall. One of the jobs of batboys was to retrieve home run balls hit during BP. Every dollar counts. We’d sneak onto the field to shag balls sometimes, but generally had to chase down balls beyond the wall. That summer, Jose Canseco traveled with the Huntsville Stars, and he a ton of balls over the scoreboard and beyond the outer wall during BP. This was with soft BP balls and BP bats that were usually broken bats that had been taped up.

I’ve not been to Rickwood since the renovation, but be sure to get into the dugouts. I remember the paint being about 30 layers deep on every surface. There was not a true corner to be found.

While time was too short for me to obtain photos of ’80s Rickwood, I did make a point to drink two Mello Yellos at the Barons game on Tuesday evening (I also put in Donovan’s Greatest Hits on the car ride home).

I was able to take a photo of the oft-painted over dugout walls, however:

And here, once again, is a photo that shows the discrepancy between the original and “new” outfield walls:

This discrepancy was the subject of another reader email I recently received, this one from a woman by the name of Marcia Bullard:

I just read your story on Rickwood. I was fortunate to visit there a few years ago when my daughter worked for the Barons. On the day we visited there was a high school tournament. We watched a bit of the game and then my daughter showed me around a bit. We were even able to go between the walls and see the back of the scoreboard and the outer wall. I seem to remember that straight away center was over 500 feet! There is a two-track that runs between the walls and to get into the scoreboard (it operates like the one at Wrigley) you have to climb a ladder. We were cautioned to stay on the track because there are snakes living in the grass! If you haven’t already, try to go between the walls. It really is an experience!

And speaking of readers — I must give a shout-out to a man by the name of Larry Lefebvre. Not only did Larry recognize me at Rickwood despite not being a member of the industry (a professional first, to be identified by a baseball civilian!), he also recently sent me an email which warmed my heart to a considerable degree:

“For the past two weeks my daughter has been singing Weird Al’s eBay song non-stop. She went on YouTube and discovered that this is not Weird Al’s only song; he has hundreds of them! After watching his videos for at least 30 minutes I heard her say to herself, ‘This guy is a genius!'”

It goes without saying that if YOU have anecdotes regarding emerging Weird Al fandom in America’s youth, then please contact me immediately so that I may spread the good word.

I suppose I should close with something baseball related, so let me just mention that it was an honor to meet Harmon Killebrew at Rickwood this afternoon. He was very friendly, unassuming, and soft-spoken, immediately making everyone feel at ease around him. I of course don’t know Harmon in any real way, but I walked away from our conversation absolutely convinced that he’s a genuinely nice guy (this was in stark contrast to another member of the 500 Home Run Club I recently met, a condescending and belittling individual whose name either rhymes with or is Reggie Jackson).

So before I shut things down for the night here at the good ol’ Birmingham-Hoover Microtel, here’s a picture of Harmon and the Barons just before the start of today’s Rickwood Classic:

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